Being first time Betta owners, my daughter and i are not yet fully aware of all aspects of Betta behavior...

Just curious whether this behavior is out of the norm,

My daughter's Betta (Veil Tailed) has spent the evening being quite active, exploring his new tank etc. He even ate earlier not bad for his first day home. He's flaring at everything that moves, even when my cellphone lights up if it happens to be on the same table..

However while we've been observing him we've noticed that he goes to the very corners of the tank, sticks his snout in the corner and almost rummages through the gravel... whether hes being playful or otherwise, we do not know... when he reaches the gravel, in that corner, he looks like he has a roll in the gravel, laying on his side for a second or two before zipping back up to the top of the tank.. he doesnt seem sick, his appetite is good, hes an insomniac apparently because its 2:00am and Mr.Betta wont stop exploring and zipping about in his tank... i see no fungus or visible issues healthwise... could this just be his unique behavior?

I have no idea what my daughter's Betta is doing to be honest, he is perky and sassy this morning, even ate when she fed him, but hes still messing about in the gravel, diving down to the corner of the tank then onto his side for a second or two, then back to swimming about... i also noticed that he will go and lay on the rock cave, motionless and flush up against it, then back to swimming... it does almost look like hes rubbing himself on the gravel, and i've checked him out for white spots (read about Ich) but there is NONE that i can see at all... i am concerned but he seems fine appetite wise...and is not acting sick...

If he's "Flickering" as your describing him doing on the gravel.
He likely has a Parasite.
That is usually one of the first signs to look for.
The parasite is like a giant itch, The fish can eat good and be fat, can be thin and not eat at all,
Can be overly active, again as I stated like an itch and drives them crazy sometimes making you think their just very active,
Or they can go to a corner and just not want to move or eat.

ive had yet another look at Twilight and he doesnt have any white spots or sores on him though, nothing outwardly obvious in his appearance.. should i just observe him for a few days to see if this behavior stops after he has more time to get used to his surroundings, or if he developes any physical signs of parasites? or is there a safe preventative measure that i can try? i called the aquarium center i used to go to when i lived in a different city (the only fish experts i knew outside the net) and they told me i could try Bettafix, but to watch and wait first so i wasnt medicating him unnecessarily.

Don't use bettafix.. its very controversial as to whether it causes harm to bettas labyrinth organs.

If you want to naturally treat for parasites just get some fresh garlic.. chop some up and smush it up and put his pellets in the garlic mush.. then microwave for 30seconds and feed him the pellets.. this will flush any parasites out and its perfectly safe for bettas.

It can take up to 6 weeks to see results (because it has to get in their system). But it comes highly recommended from experienced breeders.

i didnt know fish could tolerate garlic in any form, but am thrilled to know that if needed there is a "natural" approach to try... Thank you so much for that suggestion!

I've heard salt baths mentioned quite frequently online, would it hurt our boys to have one now and again? id like to learn a bit more about what benefits salt baths or adding some salt to your tank can have.. also can sea salt be used or only aquarium salt?

on a different note, my betta lost a scale sometime in the last two hours right on the top of his head..he must have bumped into something because hes healthy as can be.. and all the rest of his scales are pefect.. will another one grow back? I hope! does the salt bath help speed recovery when a scale is lost?

I don't like doing salt baths and I never recommend them. As much as we talk about keeping water quality stable I can't see where throwing a fish from an unsalted tank to a bowl with a high concentration of salt can help. What I would do is use the garlic (which I've been told numerous times acts as both a preventative and a cure) and slowly start adding aquarium salt to his tank. You need about 1tsp per gallon and I would start by adding 1/4 tsp per day.. make sure you dissolve the salt before adding it to the tank. I would only treat with aquarium salt for 10 days at most.

*Remember aquarium salt does not get filtered or evaporate out so the only way to get rid of the salt is to do a water change.